Hirneisen comes to UMBC after spending three seasons at her alma
mater, Colorado State, in addition to assisting the USA
Women’s National Volleyball Team as an assistant technical
director.

“We’re very fortunate to have someone of
Jenni’s caliber and work ethic join us at UMBC,” said
head coach Ian Blanchard. “Her energy and drive will
help our team improve and help me to become a better
coach.”

During her time with the national team, Hirneisen, a Colorado
native, traveled with the squad to multiple tournaments, including
last year’s Pan-American Games in Guadalajara, Mexico where
the Americans won the bronze medal. As the assistant
technical director, she assisted with all aspects of technical
scouting and breakdown, specializing in video and statistical
analysis.

“Jenni is a very talented young coach with a very bright
future,” said national team coach Hugh McCutcheon.
“She knows the game, she’s very good at interacting
with her players and she is a very strong communicator.”

Hirneisen began her time with the national team in the spring of
2010 as an intern. Through her hard work, she was asked to
remain with the program and then was promoted to the position of
assistant technical director.

“She has a very strong set of both qualitative and
quantitative skills,” added McCutcheon. “Combined
with all of her volleyball experiences, she adds a lot of value to
UMBC’s program.”

In addition to her time with the USA squad, Hirneisen was an
assistant coach at Colorado State under coach Tom Hilbert.
After working as an undergraduate assistant during the fall of 2008
and 2009, she was promoted to interim assistant coach at her alma
mater the following year. During her coaching tenure in Fort
Collins, the Rams went 74-18 overall while winning the Mountain
West Conference twice, and advancing to the NCAA Regional
Semifinals (3rd round) once (2009) and the tournament
second round twice (2008 and 2010).

“Coach Hilbert really taught me a lot about how to run a
program,” Hirneisen said. “That’s where I
really learned that there are different ways to approach and solve
the same problem.”

Hirneisen broke into coaching in the high school ranks following
her college career.

As a defensive specialist for Colorado State, Hirneisen helped
lead the Rams to the Mountain West Championship her senior year in
2006. In addition, she helped her junior-college team,
Northeastern, earn a national ranking of 11 in 2004.

Hirneisen graduated from Colorado State in 2010 with a
bachelor’s degree in animal science.